VATICAN CITY — The quest to find life on other planets got a boost when astronomers confirmed the existence of at least seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a red dwarf star just 40 light years away.Friday, February 24, 2017

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis sent best wishes and prayers to incoming President Donald J. Trump shortly after he took the oath of office. "I offer you my cordial good wishes and the assurance of my prayers that almighty God will grant you wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high office," the pope's message said.

NEW YORK — When Donald Trump stepped over yet another invisible line of the contentious presidential race Oct. 20, many of the 1,500 people at 71st annual dinner of the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation broke historic precedent to boo him.Saturday, October 22, 2016

WASHINGTON — Hours before the Oct. 9 presidential debate began, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani invoked St. Augustine of Hippo on a Sunday morning political news show to defend the man he was supporting for president.

WASHINGTON — August's torrential rains that caused catastrophic flooding in southern Louisiana have convinced Robert Gorman that it's time to think about being ready the next time the floods hit.Wednesday, September 21, 2016

KOLKATA, India — At Shishu Bhavan, children, the destitute, Missionaries of Charity nuns and novices sat silently, glued to the TV screen for the live telecast of the Vatican canonization ceremony of Mother Teresa.Monday, September 5, 2016

WASHINGTON — Georgetown University last year stripped from a building the name of one of its past presidents, a priest who authorized the sale of 272 women, children and men -- slaves sold to save the university from financial ruin in 1838. In a historic change of fortune, current university president John J. DeGioia announced Sept. 1 that the building will be renamed after one of the men the university sold as a result of the priest's decision.Friday, September 2, 2016

WASHINGTON — A central Mississippi sheriff has taken the confession of a man who says he murdered two women religious who had spent years caring for poor people as nurse practitioners.Friday, August 26, 2016

ROME (CNS) -- Blessed Teresa of Kolkata was a woman who truly felt wed to Jesus, and the freedom she experienced in loving him led her to radical poverty, a courageous outreach and an immense love for the poor, said the superior general of the order Mother Teresa founded.Friday, August 26, 2016

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Hearing the mayor of Amatrice in central Italy say his town no longer exists and knowing there were children who died Aug. 24 in the earthquakes that struck the region, Pope Francis turned his weekly general audience into a prayer service.Wednesday, August 24, 2016

BATON ROUGE, La. (CNS) -- The line of destruction caused by historic flooding in southern Louisiana stretches for 25 miles, and according to Red Cross officials, it is the worst natural disaster in the United States since Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

SPOKANE, Wash. (CNS) -- With every Olympics, summer or winter, the 24/7 coverage usually includes stories about the oldest athlete in history to compete in this sport or that sport -- and "oldest" usually means 31, 35 or perhaps early 40s.Monday, August 22, 2016

SAN GERMAN, Puerto Rico (CNS) -- Mistrust of local government and federal agencies has caused doubt among Puerto Ricans about reports the Zika epidemic poses a grave situation to the island.Sunday, August 21, 2016

MILWAUKEE (CNS) -- Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki of Milwaukee called the violence that broke out in the city as part of protests over the fatal police shooting of an African-American man "a self-inflicted wound."Saturday, August 20, 2016

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CNS) -- Not since the aftermath of 9/11 has America's national security and foreign policy seemed to resonate so heavily with the electorate during a U.S. presidential election, according to several political scientists.Friday, August 19, 2016

LOURDES, France (CNS) -- French police and military officials have launched a special security operation for the country's national pilgrimage to Lourdes, following the killing of a Catholic parish priest in a spate of terrorist attacks.Sunday, August 14, 2016

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- The same day a federal Department of Justice report cataloging systemic abuses by Baltimore's police was issued, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore called that report "sobering and distressing."

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The 2016 election season carries a high level of perceived incivility underway in the U.S. and as well as rampant online harassment by social media users expressing political viewpoints, according to recent surveys.Friday, August 12, 2016

BALTIMORE — World-class triathlete Katie Hursey Zaferes travels with a custom bicycle and enough workout gear to outfit an entire aerobics class. How does she lighten her load? With liberal doses of faith and family.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Glued to the improvised screen set up on the patio of the Caritas house, the refugees yelled and they cried. But most of all, they cheered. They cheered for their two Congolese colleagues, Popole Misenga, 24, and Yolande Mabika, 28, who were competing in judo as part of the United Nations' Refugee Olympic team.Wednesday, August 10, 2016

NEW DELHI — The Catholic Church in Pakistan has condemned a suicide blast at a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, where at least 70 people -- many of them lawyers and journalists -- were killed and more than 120 injured.Tuesday, August 9, 2016

AINKAWA, Iraq (CNS) -- Abu and Um Sabah had to trade a tent anchored in a soft, grassy patch in a park for a roughly hewn, five-story unfinished cement building as they sat out their forced displacement by Islamic State militants for a second year.

With his back to the ground, Steven Lopez's shoulder had popped out of its socket once again. In the middle of the bronze medal match of the 2015 Pan American Games, trainers held the three-time Olympic medalist's arm steady, pushing the dislocated arm back into place.Saturday, August 6, 2016

By officiating at a same-sex wedding, Vice President Joe Biden as a prominent Catholic politician has created confusion over church teaching on marriage and "the corresponding moral obligations of Catholics," three U.S. bishops said Aug. 5.Saturday, August 6, 2016

ROUEN, France — During the Aug. 2 funeral Mass for Father Jacques Hamel, killed a week earlier by men claiming allegiance to the Islamic State, Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen stressed the need for forgiveness.

WASHINGTON — While most U.S. bishops have not publicly addressed comments from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump regarding immigration, a popular U.S. cardinal and adviser to the pope said he is worried about such rhetoric.Thursday, July 28, 2016

WASHINGTON — Only a week after Donald Trump chose as his running mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who was raised a Catholic and today is evangelical, Hillary Clinton chose as her vice presidential running mate U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, a practicing Catholic who has never lost an election.Tuesday, July 26, 2016

VATICAN CITY — The murder of a priest in northern France, taken hostage with a handful of other faithful during a weekday morning Mass July 26, is another act of "absurd violence" added to too many stories of senseless violence and death, said the Vatican spokesman.Tuesday, July 26, 2016

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Father Bryan Massingale, a priest of the Milwaukee Archdiocese and well-known theologian, knows what it's like to be watched by police.

He said that as a black man there have been times he has been followed by police officers on the campus of Marquette University, where he taught for 12 years, as he walked on campus when he wasn't wearing his priestly garb.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul was filled with mourners July 14 for the funeral of Philando Castile, a 32-year-old black man who was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights July 6.Friday, July 15, 2016

WASHINGTON — The week had been emotionally draining at the predominantly black parish in Oakland, California. Along with the rest of the country, they had felt the weight of two more fatal shootings of black men by police.Thursday, July 14, 2016

DALLAS — In the week since five Dallas area police officers were gunned down, thousands have gathered in churches, parks, plazas, parking lots and a symphony hall to remember the fallen officers, to cry for hope and pray for peace and unity in communities across the country.Wednesday, July 13, 2016

DALLAS — Five Dallas law enforcement officers were assassinated July 7 as a sniper opened fire in downtown Dallas as hundreds of demonstrators were winding down a march protesting recent fatal officer-involved shootings in other parts of the country.Friday, July 8, 2016

WASHINGTON — The CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project has identified more than 40 children and mothers who have been arrested in Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and detained in Dilley or Karnes City, Texas, according to a recent report released by the project.Saturday, July 2, 2016

OXFORD, England — European Catholic leaders expressed concern that the decision by United Kingdom voters to leave the European Union threatened unity across the continent, but they also cautioned the EU bloc to rethink its values and priorities.

WASHINGTON — As adults try to process the June 12 massacre at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, they should be aware that children, even if not overly exposed to the news, might have a lot of questions or fears about what happened.Friday, June 17, 2016

ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando Bishop John G. Noonan urged people of faith "to turn their hearts and souls" to God and pray for the victims, the families and first responders following the worst mass shooting in U.S. history June 12.

LOS ANGELES — With California now allowing doctors to prescribe lethal medications for terminally ill patients who ask for them, "we are crossing a line," said the archbishop of Los Angeles.Thursday, June 9, 2016

ROME (CNS) — Paying workers a just wage has been "one of the most consistent and central themes of Catholic social teaching" for more than a century, said Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.Sunday, May 8, 2016

LAGOS, Nigeria (CNS) — Two bishops from southern Nigeria condemned an attack on a vehicle carrying Abuja Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan and appealed to the government to tackle the issue of growing instability in Edo state.Sunday, May 8, 2016

LONDONERRY, Northern Ireland (CNS) — Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry told hundreds of mourners at the funeral of an Irish missionary nun that "a life given in loving sacrifice is never wasted."Saturday, May 7, 2016

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Omar al-Muqdad has seen both sides of the refugee crisis.

In 2004, he assisted Iraqi refugees in his home country of Syria. And then nearly a decade later, he escaped the civil war in his country by first going to Turkey and then finding a temporary home in 2012 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he was the only Syrian refugee in the state.

DUBLIN (CNS) — When the head of communications for an international Catholic charity visited Syria, it was not safe to go to Aleppo. So Sister Annie Demerjian, an Armenian religious sister from the city, traveled to visit him.Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Speaking from the pulpit at St. Mary’s Cathedral on Monday night, Father Benedict Kiely told those in the pews horrifying stories of modern Christian martyrdom that equal the barbarism of the ancient world. “Christ is being persecuted on a level not seen since the first three centuries of Christian history,” he said.Wednesday, April 20, 2016

IRBIL, Iraq (CNS) — When the Islamic State group rolled across Iraq's Ninevah Plain in 2014, tens of thousands of Christians fled for their lives to Kurdish-controlled areas of the country. They still wait in limbo in crowded camps, facing an undefined future. The only certainty they enjoy is knowing that whatever happens to them, a group of Dominican nuns will be at their side.Wednesday, April 20, 2016

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Six members of the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, including a young nun from Northern Ireland, are among the dead in the strongest earthquake to strike Ecuador since 1979.Monday, April 18, 2016

MONTREAL (CNS) — Climate change and emergency situations are linked, but global emergencies also can be caused by people, said two leaders of Caritas Internationalis, the umbrella organization for Catholic charitable organizations.Sunday, April 17, 2016

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- Poland's Catholic bishops have called for a permanent ban on abortions to mark the anniversary of their country's Christian conversion in A.D. 966. "Each person's life is protected by the Fifth Commandment, do not kill. So the attitude of Catholics is clear and unchanging," the bishops' conference said in a March 30 statement.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said attending a Vatican conference on Catholic social teaching did not represent a political endorsement of his run for higher office. Sanders was one of about 35 economists, academics, church leaders and politicians invited to attend a conference April 15-16 dedicated to St. John Paul II's 1991 social encyclical "Centesimus Annus."Friday, April 15, 2016

LIMA, Peru (CNS) ­— A Peruvian-based Catholic movement publicly distanced itself from its founder and asked for Vatican intervention in the wake of accusations of sexual, psychological and physical abuse of members.Friday, April 8, 2016

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Mother Angelica "reflected the Gospel commission to go forth and make disciples of all nations" said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. bishops' conference.Thursday, March 31, 2016

KARACHI, Pakistan (CNS) — The terrorist attack that killed more than 70 people in a Lahore park on Easter was not the first time that Christians in the Islamic country have been targeted, and observers say that, as things stand, it will not be the last time.Tuesday, March 29, 2016

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Imagine turning on the tap in the morning and seeing something that's "looked like toilet water coming out of your faucet," in the words of one Catholic leader. That's been the reality facing tens of thousands of residents of Flint, Michigan, every day for more than a year.Saturday, March 26, 2016

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) —- As a lieutenant colonel in the Tennessee Army National Guard, Deacon John Krenson was responsible for the well-being of his soldiers in many tense situations in Afghanistan and Iraq.Thursday, March 24, 2016

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis, condemning the "blind violence" of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, offered his prayers to the victims, the injured, their families and all those offering assistance in the aftermath of the bombings.Tuesday, March 22, 2016

JERUSALEM (CNS) — Israeli restrictions on reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for Holy Week and Easter are part of the current Israeli government's policy of making Jerusalem an exclusively Jewish city, said Yusef Daher, secretary-general of the Jerusalem Interchurch Center.Monday, March 21, 2016

Editor’s note: Daesh is another name for ISIS. For the full transcript of Secretary of State John Kerry's declaration of genocide, go to: http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2016/03/254782.htmJohn Kerry: My purpose in appearing before you today is to assert that, in my judgment, Daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims.Sunday, March 20, 2016

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — During Holy Week and in the Easter season, the Vatican will take part in several initiatives highlighting the importance of ecology and the care for creation.Sunday, March 20, 2016

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Just as the crowds and government officials tried to dodge responsibility for Jesus' fate after he was arrested, so today too many individuals and countries want someone else to care for refugees fleeing violence and migrants seeking a better life, Pope Francis said.Sunday, March 20, 2016

Carmen Kintz, a 2007 graduate of Regis High School in Stayton, is living in Seoul, South Korea and teaching English. Off hours, she volunteers for an overnight shift at a baby drop box.Saturday, March 19, 2016

WASHINGTON (CNS) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that atrocities carried out by the Islamic State group against Yezidis, Christians and other minorities were genocide, the first U.S. declaration of genocide since Sudanese actions in Darfur in 2004.Thursday, March 17, 2016

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When President Barack Obama announced Judge Merrick Garland as his Supreme Court nominee in the White House Rose Garden March 16, his praise for the candidate was coupled with an urgent plea that members of the U.S. Senate give Garland a fair chance.Wednesday, March 16, 2016

SAN ANTONIO (CNS) -- Father Virgilio Elizondo, a nationally known professor of pastoral and Hispanic theology at the University of Notre Dame and founder of what is today the Mexican American Catholic College in San Antonio, was found dead in his home the afternoon of March 14. He was 80.Wednesday, March 16, 2016

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — By using the tools of capitalism and the market effectively and ethically, the world can reach "full human flourishing and sustainable development," said Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.Saturday, March 12, 2016

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In the heart of Vatican City, dozens of women from around the world gathered to share their stories of faith and activism. A few men were in attendance, but Pope Francis and top members of the Roman Curia were out of town on their Lenten retreat.Friday, March 11, 2016

NEW YORK (CNS) — "The most massive failure of the Catholic community at all levels in the past 20 years has been to address the question of our ongoing involvement in the Middle East," according to San Diego Bishop Robert W. McElroy.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholic schools in the United States are falling short in serving the growing number of Latino Catholics, according to a new report released March 7. "The numbers are without a doubt sobering," the report says, pointing out that even with stronger efforts by Catholic leaders and school communities to recruit Hispanic students, "the total enrollment of Hispanic children in Catholic schools remains almost stagnant."Wednesday, March 9, 2016

ASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholic schools in the United States are falling short in serving the growing number of Latino Catholics, according to a new report released March 7. "The numbers are without a doubt sobering," the report says, pointing out that even with stronger efforts by Catholic leaders and school communities to recruit Hispanic students, "the total enrollment of Hispanic children in Catholic schools remains almost stagnant."

MEXICO CITY (CNS) — An outspoken environmental activist in Honduras was murdered in her own home, sparking outrage and offering another example of the impunity and violence in the Central American country.Friday, March 4, 2016

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in its first abortion case in nine years March 2 in a challenge by Texas abortion clinics to a 2013 state law that requires them to comply with standards of ambulatory surgical centers and their doctors to have admitting privileges at local hospitals.Thursday, March 3, 2016

Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott and the U.S. Marshal have announced that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead in his luxury hotel room this morning after he failed to join his friends for breakfast. He had been on a quail hunting trip in Marfa, Texas.Saturday, February 13, 2016

Where the Spice Road and the King’s Highway intersected, linking Rome to India, the Nabataeans built their capital. At its height, 100,000 people lived in the grand but hidden city, now in southern Jordan.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (CNS) -- As the eyes of the nation focused on the Iowa caucuses Feb. 1, the 13 congregations of Catholic Sisters of the Upper Mississippi River Valley wanted to capture the attention of participants to call for an end to environmentally destructive policies and practices.Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Though the original 13 British colonies in what is now the U.S. largely had Protestant populations, Catholic missionaries helped shape the economic, political and religious values as other parts of the territory were settled.Tuesday, February 2, 2016

CEBU, Philippines (CNS) -- Maria Georgia "Maggie" Cogtas of Cebu told of a childhood without playing, only tough work as a garbage picker at dumpsites, construction sites and on the streets.Friday, January 29, 2016

TUCSON, Ariz. (CNS) -- Every time Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno looks through a telescope at a deep sky object or examines a piece of a 4-billion-year-old meteorite that found its way to Earth, he says he's exploring a mystery that spans both science and faith.Wednesday, January 27, 2016

ROME (CNS) -- After walking across the threshold of the Holy Door with an Orthodox metropolitan and an Anglican archbishop, Pope Francis invoked God's mercy upon divided Christians and apologized for times that Catholics may have hurt members of other denominations.Tuesday, January 26, 2016

After learning that ISIS finally destroyed St. Elijah’s Monastery, Father Whorton, now stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., told the United Kingdom of Great Britain’s national daily, The Guardian, “Why we treat each other like this is beyond me. Elijah the prophet must be weeping.”Friday, January 22, 2016

VATICAN CITY — Movies depicting exorcisms could be an important medium for showing how God always triumphs over evil, but instead, they misrepresent the faith and exaggerate human and satanic powers over God, a leading exorcist wrote in the Vatican newspaper.Tuesday, January 12, 2016

TUMACACORI, Ariz. (CNS) -- Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, an Italian missionary to the American Southwest known as the "Padre on Horseback," was honored Jan. 10 at the Tumacacori National Historical Park with Kino Legacy Day.Monday, January 11, 2016

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When President Barack Obama unveiled a series of executive orders Jan. 5 intended to make a dent in gun violence in the United States, people reacted. And how.Friday, January 8, 2016

AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan borders a dramatic shore of the Dead Sea, a singular 1,000-foot-deep body of water filling part of the great Jordan Valley rift. Because of that, bathers have the delightful sensation of zero gravity.Thursday, January 7, 2016

Mount Nebo is the site where Moses is believed to have died. From its summit, with a refreshing breeze, one sees most of the region in a sweep — where Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan, where John the Baptist preached and baptized, where Jesus walked, taught, died and was raised.Wednesday, January 6, 2016

WASHINGTON— The U.S. Catholic bishops have declared National Migration Week 2016 will take place January 3-9 with the theme, "A Stranger and You Welcomed Me.” The celebration provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the hardships faced by migrants, including children, refugees, and victims of human trafficking.

Standing in southern Jordan on a pinnacle overlooking Wadi Rum — Arabic for “Valley of Heights” — it’s possible to grasp the Israelites’ conception of God as a mighty desert warrior.Wednesday, December 16, 2015

No one knows for sure how long community carols have been sung in the pub at Dungworth's Royal Hotel, but they've been documented since the 19th century and are a staunchly defended local tradition.Wednesday, December 16, 2015

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A new report on U.S. women religious said that religious life is becoming not only more multiethnic but more international as well. The report, "Understanding U.S. Catholic Sisters Today," said that of all women who entered religious life in the past 10 years, only 57 percent were white, while 17 percent were Hispanic, 16 percent were Asian, and 8 percent were black -- including both African-American women and those born in Africa.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Heads of state discussing carbon emission limits must create a global and "transformative" agreement built on justice, solidarity and fairness, a papal representative told the U.N. climate conference last week in Paris.Sunday, December 6, 2015

Father Nabil Haddad helped start the Amman-based Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center in 2003. The aim of the organization, founded with the nation’s Muslim chief justice, is to use religious beliefs as grounds for peace, not war.Wednesday, December 2, 2015

PARIS (CNS) -- Hundreds of thousands of people in at least 150 countries around the world demanded action on climate change on the eve of a U.N. conference that aimed to find agreement on greenhouse gas emissions.

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Seattle Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration, said he was disturbed by calls from federal and state officials for an end to the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the U.S. "These refugees are fleeing terror themselves," he said.

BALTIMORE — Church resettlement programs in the United States will continue to aid refugees who are fleeing violence and social ills despite calls that the country's borders should be closed to anyone but Christians.Tuesday, November 17, 2015

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic leaders around the world condemned terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut, offering prayers and condolences.

"There is no place for terrorism in a civilized society," Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Philippine bishops' conference, said Nov. 15. "Causing the death of anyone is a sin against God and a crime against humanity."Monday, November 16, 2015

VATICAN CITY — A week after the 65th anniversary of Father Emil Kapaun's capture in North Korea, the bishop of Wichita, Kansas, formally presented a report on the Army chaplain's life, virtues and fame of holiness to the Congregation for Saints' Causes.

AL-MAGHTAS, Jordan — A rustic, brushy depression north of the Dead Sea is more holy than anything at the Vatican. That’s the educated declaration of Rustom Mkhjian and it’s hard to argue with him. Mkhjian helps oversee the site along the Jordan River confirmed by archeologists as the most likely place where John the Baptist brought Jesus into the water.

ANJARA, Jordan — In the Gilead Mountains of northern Jordan, a statue of Mary cried human blood in 2010. Instead of cashing in on religious tourism, Our Lady of the Visitation Parish has responded with zealous outreach to people on the margins.Thursday, October 22, 2015

NEW YORK — The Hispanic Catholic presence in the United States predates the foundation of Jamestown, Virginia, by a century, a University of Notre Dame professor said at a discussion about Latino Catholicism at the Sheen Center for Thought &amp; Culture.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — As Haiti prepared to go to the polls Oct. 25 in a process whose complexity and proliferation of candidates has created a logistical nightmare for organizers, the bishops' conference urged Haitians to vote, but warned them to beware of false electoral promises and demagoguery.

ST. LOUIS — Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis and the Rev. Matthew Harrison, president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, said they were shaken and shocked by reports that the body parts of babies were being harvested.Wednesday, October 14, 2015

PHILADELPHIA — Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of the Archdiocese for Military Services, called on Catholic medical professionals last month to uphold their commitment to “the healing of our culture.” Wednesday, October 14, 2015

UNITED NATIONS — In the warm afterglow of Pope Francis’ Sept 25 address to the General Assembly, veteran United Nations observers drew a starkly candid road map of urgent actions that the world body must take to achieve its security agenda.Wednesday, October 14, 2015

MIAMI — In just three years between the past two papal visits to Cuba, retired Miami academic Andy Gomez remains disturbed by what he said is an alarming uptick in poverty and urban decay in the island nation’s capital. A retired assistant provost and dean of international studies at the University of Miami, where he also was a senior fellow at the university’s Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American studies, Gomez, his wife and several hundred South Florida Catholics made a Sept. 18-21 pilgrimage to Havana in support of the pope’s visit to Cuba before his U.S. trip.Wednesday, October 14, 2015

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Bishop Robert Guglielmone of Charleston asked for prayers for the families of those killed as well as for those whose homes were destroyed in what officials called a 1,000-year storm that brought extreme rains that deluged South Carolina.

KONSTANCIN-JEZIORNA, Poland — Catholic female religious orders have expanded rapidly in China over the past decade, but are now facing restrictions and a decrease in vocations, said religious sisters from various parts of China.

PHILADELPHIA — Cathy and Tony Witczak of St. Isaac Jogues Parish, in Wayne, Pennsylvania, were taken by surprise when they were notified Pope Francis had invited them to participate as observers at the Synod of Bishops on the family meeting in Rome through Oct. 26.

ST. LOUIS — Several critics have called the Missouri attorney general's new report on Planned Parenthood in St. Louis incomplete, saying it raises questions about how state law holds the abortion provider accountable for its handling of human remains from abortions.

VATICAN CITY — The world Synod of Bishops on the family is not a parliament where participants will negotiate or lobby, Pope Francis said, but it must be a place of prayer where bishops speak with courage and open themselves to "God who always surprises us."

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) -- Known as the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia will be "the city of family love" and the "world capital of families" during the four-day World Meeting of Families, said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family. The largest-ever World Meeting of Families opened in Philadelphia Sept. 22. More than 17,500 participants from more than 100 countries registered for the four-day congress, said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia.

VATICAN CITY — Millions of Iraqis and Syrians are facing poverty and even death, neighboring countries are bearing more than their fair share of the burden of helping refugees, arms dealers are getting richer and the international community seems helpless, Pope Francis said.

BALTIMORE — Pope Francis’ Sept. 1 announcement that priests worldwide will be able to absolve women for the sin of abortion will have little effect on pastoral practices in the United States and Canada, where most priests already have such authority in the sacrament of reconciliation.Tuesday, September 8, 2015

SANTA FE, N.M. — The Catholic bishops of New Mexico in a joint statement welcomed a ruling by the state's Court of Appeals that reversed a lower court's approval of physician-assisted suicide.Tuesday, August 18, 2015

WASHINGTON — The Catholic Legal Immigration Network and the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas decried the Obama administration's effort to have a judge set aside her orders for the release of families being held in immigration detention centers.

JAMAICA, N.Y. — The first Steubenville Youth Conference to be held in New York drew 1,800 teenagers from around the country Aug. 7-9 to St. John's University in Jamaica in the New York borough of Queens.

WASHINGTON — The Catholic Church's strong stance against pornography is based on church teaching that the human body should be respected and every person has a God-given dignity. But the fight against pornography is not unique to religious organizations. "This is not a moral issue. We now have science to back this up," said Dawn Hawkins, vice president and executive director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.

WASHINGTON — Pornography is sexualizing the innocence of the nation's young children, causing a race to adulthood before the end of childhood. Young girls are being bombarded with photo-shopped images and are buying into unrealistic expectations set before them at an age meant for skinned knees and the Disney Channel.

WASHINGTON — A federal judge ruled July 24 that the government's immigrant family detention system violates a settlement agreement dating to 1997 over how juveniles in the custody of the immigration agency are treated.

OSHKOSH, Wis. — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker July 20 signed a bill into law that would prohibit all Wisconsin abortions at or beyond the 20-week gestation mark, making an exception only for medical emergencies.

DENVER — In a July 23 filing with the U.S. Supreme Court, the Little Sisters of the Poor have asked the court for relief from being forced to comply with the federal contraceptive mandate or face heavy fines.

DENVER — The Little Sisters of the Poor and other religious entities are not substantially burdened by procedures set out by the federal government by which they can avoid a requirement to provide contraceptive coverage in health insurance, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled July 14.

TORONTO — California Gov. Jerry Brown, in Toronto for the Climate Summit of the Americas, said he is traveling with a copy of Pope Francis' environmental encyclical "Laudato Si'" and "going through it carefully."

WASHINGTON — Pope Francis' address to a joint meeting of Congress Sept. 24 will be broadcast live to members of the public on the West Front of the Capitol, House Speaker John Boehner announced July 8.

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia — Camillian Father Mateo Bautista Garcia plans to push his palms outward when Pope Francis passes by so the pontiff can read his political protest written with a marker: "10 percent."

SAN ANTONIO — Five centuries-old Spanish missions in Texas newly declared as World Heritage Sites by a U.N. agency "have helped to shape the face of San Antonio," said Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A new Florida law establishing a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking an abortion has not gone into effect, after a July 2 ruling lifted the stay on a June 30 injunction that had put the law on hold.

LA PAZ, Bolivia — Jesuit Father Luis Espinal was returning from a movie in March 1980 when he was intercepted, tortured and killed. His remains were found in a landfill. Paramilitaries were blamed for his death. Outrage ensued, with an estimated 70,000 Bolivians attending his burial in La Paz.

WASHINGTON — Witnesses at a Capitol Hill hearing urged Congress to pass a reauthorization measure that would keep funding going for transplant programs that use adult stem cells from bone marrow and cord blood to treat diseases and for continued research.

OKLAHOMA CITY — By ordering the removal of a Ten Commandments monument from the state Capitol grounds, the Oklahoma Supreme Court is ignoring the historical significance of the moral code "in the formation of our state," said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley.

WASHINGTON — Religious freedom is "the human right that guarantees all other rights," Miami Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski said July 4 in his homily at the closing Mass of the U.S. bishops' fourth annual Fortnight for Freedom.

PHILADELPHIA — The first stop for Pope Francis when he visits Philadelphia the morning of Sept. 26 will be the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul to celebrate a special Mass for the people of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A Dominican Republic court decision rescinding the citizenship of Haitians born in that country "has caused a moral and civil outcry against this seemingly unjust law," Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio said at a special Mass.

NEW YORK — A June 29 prayer service at Holy Family Church in New York City not only recalled the sacrifices of African martyrs in church history but also paid tribute to those who have died recently for their faith.

NEW YORK — The 30 hours or so Pope Francis will spend in New York in September will be relatively brief, but "his presence here among us will have a profound and lasting impact on all New Yorkers, said Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan.

WASHINGTON — In a June 29 order, the Supreme Court continued to shield several Pennsylvania religious institutions from having to provide employees with health care coverage that includes contraceptives.

BALTIMORE — Archbishop William Lori reminded those gathered for Mass June 21 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore that when it comes to religious freedom, American Catholics and Christians worldwide are in the same "boat."

JERUSALEM — The Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land issued a strong condemnation against an early morning arson attack on the Benedictine Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee on June 18.

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Finally, “Baby Francis” is resting in peace. In a simple, but dignified ceremony June 10 in a section of Gate of Heaven Cemetery set aside for the repose of babies, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence presided over a Christian burial service for the unborn child he named “Francis,” fulfilling a commitment he made to officials five months ago after a fetus was found floating amid the sewage at a nearby wastewater treatment facility.